The Dynamic Power of God's Word

Well, good morning, everybody.

And thanks so much for your welcome.

I'm glad to have had correspondence with Graham.

! It's lovely to be back here.

We've been a few times, Margaret and I,

and lovely to be with you.

Thank you for allowing me to operate down here.

Can you manage okay?

I'm not much to look at anyway, so it's good.

And I don't have this huge platform that they built in Nehemiah Chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

Did you hear that?

Fantastic platform for the preacher,

just like you have immediately behind me.

Thank you.

In Weakness during those three weeks.

Fantastic children's program, youth program, seminar program,

Bible teaching and worship.

So if you haven't been, you're very welcome.

We'd love to see you.

It's free of charge.

You can commute up and down every day,

or you can find somewhere to stay.

We'd love to see you there.

It's one of about 80 events around the world,

and Margaret and I help with what's called the Keswick Fellowship

because it's rippled around the world to different countries in Africa and Asia and Europe,

and there are events running all through the year linked to the Keswick family.

So that's the advert over, but we'd love to see you in the summer.

And the reason for the choice of this passage, Nehemiah 8,

is because in correspondence with Graham,

I understand you're looking at a wonderful psalm,

Psalm 119, which is, of course, a great song, a great poem,

all about the Word of God.

So we thought maybe it would be good looking at this very dramatic story

in Nehemiah 8, which tells us about the dynamic power of God's Word

and the importance of hearing and responding to God's Word.

Now, of course, you're seeing that all through Psalm 119,

but here's a particular event which illustrates it.

Now, I recently read a comment from the retiring General Secretary

of the World Evangelical Alliance,

and he addressed the biggest crisis facing evangelicals all around the world.

You might want to guess what the biggest crisis is.

Well, you could say it's secularism,

or you could say it's the advance of Islam,

or you could say it's persecution.

But on the screen, you'll see what he felt was the biggest challenge

facing Christians like us all around the world.

The biggest crisis is the growing lack of biblical literacy worldwide.

Beyond all theological differences, financial problems,

and political questions, he said,

our biggest problem is that Bible knowledge is fading away.

I don't know if that's your assessment of the biggest challenge that we face.

It's true that around the world, the church is growing rapidly,

especially in the majority world of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

But despite growing numbers,

that doesn't always mean there's going to be growing understanding

or knowledge of the Bible.

And even here in the West,

where we have a much stronger tradition

of having the Bible and having it taught,

Now, the latest figures that I've read

are that 70% of Christians in this country and Europe,

70% of Christians only read the Bible

when they're in a church meeting like this.

And that's a slightly worrying statistic

because what we see in Psalm 119,

and certainly in this story now,

is that this word of God is dynamic.

It's life-changing.

It's essential for us to live as we should as God's people.

At the same time as that crisis,

you know as well there are new opportunities.

And this is something I read just a week or two ago

in the Evangelical Alliance Idea magazine.

It's written by Paul Woolley,

who works for the London Institute.

And he says that those coming to church today

are not simply looking for community.

He's writing about the growth,

the number of people who are deciding to go to church.

We're in a very small church in a rural area,

but people are coming.

And they don't quite know why,

but they want to be in a church.

It's an interesting phenomenon

in different parts of the country.

And he says, increasingly,

they are looking for truth.

They want a moral compass to navigate complexity.

They long for clarity in a world of shifting narratives.

They want scripture to shape everyday life

in work, in family, in relationships,

and in society.

And of course, the good news is that

that is what the Bible does.

That is what scripture does,

because God's word is dynamic and life-changing.

Martin Luther once said about the Bible,

here's the phrase,

the Bible is alive.

It has hands and grabs hold of me.

It has feet and runs after me.

And that idea of a dynamic word,

which can change us,

is picked up many, many times in the scriptures.

As you know, there are lots of dynamic descriptions.

Jeremiah said that the word of God

was like a fire in his bones,

or like a hammer that would break rocks.

And you'll know Paul, of course,

described God's word as the sword of the spirit.

That's repeated later in the New Testament.

Jesus said that the seed,

the word was the seed,

which could produce a phenomenal harvest,

just a small, vulnerable seed,

has a great impact.

And maybe you remember the story

of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

And they were joined by Jesus.

They didn't recognize him.

And Jesus chose not to introduce himself,

but instead to introduce himself

through the scriptures.

And Luke tells us,

he explained to them what was said

in all the scriptures concerning himself.

In other words, it's through the Bible,

through the scriptures,

that we come to encounter the living Lord Jesus.

That's why it's so important

that we give our energies

to understanding what God's word has to say.

That's true in this series in Psalm 119.

And right now.

Well, in Nehemiah 8,

we have a great story

about the impact of this living word

on the community there in Jerusalem.

Now, God's people had returned home

after years and years of exile,

away from Jerusalem.

And now they were back home.

What really mattered

was that they truly became God's people.

They truly understood God's word for them.

So very quickly,

let me just give three bullet points

which introduce and explain this story.

The first thing to notice

is the foundation of God's word.

The section we're looking at

is right at the heart of Nehemiah's memoirs.

The whole book is his account

of how things were going.

And right at the heart, of course,

is the story of the foundation of God's word.

They rebuilt the walls all around Jerusalem,

but the real foundation for them

as God's people,

as the community of God,

would be his word.

Three things to mention.

First of all, it was central.

The seventh month,

which is referred to in the passage,

was a month of great religious festivals.

And the first thing they did

was call for the book,

call for the law of God.

They wanted to hear God's word.

And you'll notice there, verse one,

all the people came together

as one in the square before the water gates.

They told Ezra, the teacher of the law,

to bring out the book of the law of Moses,

which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

And verse three says,

everybody listened attentively.

Now that they were back home in Jerusalem,

and now they were there with the word of God,

this was going to be the new constitution.

This was going to be the thing

that would shape them as God's people.

So it was central.

And that's how it should be

for every congregation,

every Christian congregation and church,

for every believer.

It should be central to our lives

because of its dynamic role

in introducing us to Jesus

and to God's purpose.

Second thing to notice is it had authority.

They told Ezra, the teacher of the law,

to bring out the book of the law of Moses,

which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So he mentions the human author,

that's Moses.

But do you notice he also refers

to the divine author,

the book of the law of Moses,

which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So it had authority

because it was the law of God.

It was the revelation

or the teaching which God had given.

And that, of course,

is vital for our own understanding.

So when we open the Bible,

as we are now,

or when you do at home

or on your phone on the way to work

or wherever you access God's word,

it's very important to remember two things.

And this is a verse in 1 Thessalonians

on the screen,

which helps us.

It's in 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

We thank God continually

because when you receive the word of God,

which you heard from us,

you accepted it not as a human word,

but as it actually is,

the word of God,

which is indeed at work in you who believe.

It's a fantastic description

of why we take the Bible so seriously.

First of all, it's authoritative, he says.

It's the word of God in your Bibles.

You can really underline that

because he says it with emphasis.

He writes it with real emphasis.

It's the word of God.

But notice that the other phrase which follows,

it's not only authoritative,

it is powerful.

He says,

it is at work in you who believe.

I found that hugely encouraging

that when we read the Bible

here in the church

or individually or in groups,

it's not simply taking in information.

It's the word of God,

which is at work in us.

It's powerful to change us.

I have a good friend

who's a pastor in Harare in Zimbabwe.

And some years ago,

I was with him

and he just had a visit

from some of Robert Mugabe's security forces.

Robert Mugabe was a previous president

in Zimbabwe.

And the security forces

had gone around all institutions,

including churches,

just before the elections

because they wanted to cover all bases.

And so they asked the pastor, Gary,

do you have any explosives,

any arms,

anything explosive in the church?

And my friend said,

yes,

come on in.

And he brought them in.

You'll know where I'm going probably.

And he went into the church office

and he gave them all Bibles.

And then he prayed with them

that they would experience

the power of this explosive book.

And I quite like hearing him say that

because that is the truth about God's word.

It is powerful.

It's authoritative because it's from God.

It is powerful

because it is at work in you who believe.

It's another good reason

why it should be central

in our lives and our church.

And the third thing to mention

about this foundation

was that this word was for everyone.

When Margot read the passage,

I'm sure you noticed

how this is repeated so many times

because if it's going to be

the foundation for their families,

for their life together,

for their economic activity,

for their new constitution

as God's people,

it was essential

that it was clear

and accessible to everyone.

So for one thing,

verse one,

everyone was present.

All the people came together as one.

Then Ezra read

before the whole assembly,

verse two,

which was made up of men and women

and all who could understand.

That's repeated in verse three.

Verse five,

all the people could see him

with this fantastic pulpit

that they built.

And it was read,

notice it was not read in the temple,

which you'd expect,

wouldn't you,

in Jerusalem,

read the Bible in the holy place.

It was read downtown

in the city center.

It was for everyone.

And then the story

also underlined several times,

everybody understood.

They made the law clear,

verse eight,

giving the meaning

so that the people

could understand

what was being read.

And then the reason

for the response

of the people,

which we'll look at

as we finish in a few minutes,

verse 12,

because they now understood

the words that had been

made known to Israel,

made known to them.

It's possible,

I think we should applaud Margot

for all those names.

I mean,

she did a great job,

didn't she?

Repeated twice.

They were Levites

and they were mingling there

with all the people.

The reason why

they were doing that,

possibly they were translating

because there would be

multiple languages

and maybe they were translating.

Some people think

maybe they were just

holding small discussion groups,

making sure everybody

in that huge crowd

downtown Jerusalem

really understood

what was being read.

So that was a big concern

and I know that's exactly

your concern here,

that what we teach

and how we understand

the scriptures

should really sink

into people's hearts

and minds

and truly be understood.

It's because the word of God

leads us into God's presence.

We come to know Jesus

in that way.

One other illustration

also happens to be

from Zimbabwe.

There was a general secretary

of the Bible Society

in Zimbabwe

and I did hear him

tell this rather remarkable story.

He was,

I should have jumped ahead,

Margaret,

I'll probably come back

later to that.

I'll give you one example

of accessibility

I noticed I should have said.

It's for everyone.

I'll come back

to my story in a moment.

Just a couple of weeks ago

we received a video

and I thought it's worth

mentioning what's happening

in terms of the Wycliffe

Bible translators,

this idea of it being

for everyone.

They're working,

coordinating Bible translation

in Nigeria

and there are 500 languages

in Nigeria

and in the message

that they sent us

just a week or two ago

they said

if they carry on

with the translation

into 500 languages

they won't have

a complete New Testament

in these many languages

until 2180.

That's more than 150 years.

So they're appealing.

We need to make

the Word of God accessible.

We need more workers.

We need more funds.

And that's true

of many agencies

trying to make

God's Word accessible

around the world.

And of course

it's true in our own culture.

We want more people

to engage

and understand

and live by

the Word of God

making it accessible

for families

and for adults

for those

with learning difficulties

for those

that are visually handicapped

every way we can

to make the Word of God

accessible.

Well that's the foundation

of God's Word.

Let's come to a second

big theme

which is really interesting

to see the hunger

for God's Word

when you read this passage.

The account tells us

a good deal

about the people

who were in Jerusalem

when this event happened.

First thing is

they were expectant.

They were eager

to hear the Word.

You can see that

from the very first verse.

They were the ones

who called Ezra

to bring out the book.

In fact,

ages ago,

I think maybe 20 years ago,

a man called Jim Packer

who's a British theologian

wrote a book

and he commented

on this verse

and he said

it was rather like

going to a pop concert,

a big music event,

he said.

It must have been

like the crowd.

And they said,

this is Jim Packer

suggesting,

we want Ezra.

We want Ezra.

Saying it over

and over again,

louder and louder

and you get some idea

of the feelings

being expressed

in Jerusalem that day.

Well, it takes

a bit of imagination

but he's right

that there was

a large crowd

longing to hear the Word.

They appealed to Ezra,

bring out the book

of the law.

And the same sense

of expectancy

and eagerness

is expressed

in verse 3,

all the people

listened attentively

as I've mentioned.

Now, verse 5,

all the people

stood up

as they opened

the book.

They wanted to

pay attention

to this Word

and it reminds us,

of course,

that when we come

to open God's Word,

whenever we do so,

we must have

the same sense

of faith

and expectancy

which these people

demonstrated.

It's interesting

that even Jesus'

own ministry

was frustrated

when there was

no sense

of expectancy

or faith

in his audience.

He was in the synagogue

he began to teach

but people

were not listening.

So this attitude

of expectancy

is so important

and expectant faith

is the soil

in which God's Word

will produce

good fruit.

It's the lesson

for a church congregation.

It's the lesson

all the way

through our lives,

listening with that

kind of expectancy

and faith.

And the second thing

is to notice

that they were

really committed.

You can see

their spiritual hunger

when you read it

through.

They were ready

for all kinds

of inconvenience.

And if you just

analyze the text

you see that they

stood from daybreak

till noon.

Verse 3.

So that's probably

about five hours

they were standing

to listen to this word

without a coffee break

in sight.

They were totally

committed.

And again,

this kind of response

is to do

with the work

of the Holy Spirit

in our lives.

That's what we

must pray for.

The expectancy

and the commitment

which realizes

we long to hear

what God has to say.

We want to be changed

by the dynamic power

of God's Word.

And the third thing

we notice about them

is their humility.

Verse 6.

Ezra praised

the Lord,

the great God

and all the peoples

lifted their hands

and responded

Amen,

Amen.

Then they bowed down

and worshipped the Lord

with their faces

to the ground.

I do wonder

if there is something

to learn

from the attitude

of the people

that day

which is recorded

in verse 6.

All the people

lifting their hands.

All the people

bowing down

to touch the ground.

There was a reverence,

a humility,

a desire

to hear

what God has to say.

And again,

these are prerequisites

for truly

being impacted

by the Word of God

in our own lives.

In fact,

I think

those verses

are a good example

of the fact

that we don't

venerate the book

as such,

the Bible.

Martin Luther again

used to say

that the Bible

is the cradle

in which we find

the baby.

In other words,

we come to the Bible

in order to encounter

Jesus,

as we've said,

so that he

will have preeminence

in our life,

so that we live

our lives

shaped by knowing

the Lord Jesus.

So the Bible

is the cradle

which introduces

us to the baby,

to Jesus himself.

And here I come back

to what I was just

about to say

about the

General Secretary

of the Bible Society

in Zimbabwe.

His name is

Gaylord Camberini,

and he once

offered a man

a New Testament.

And the guy

said,

no,

I'm not interested.

I don't want to read

the New Testament.

He said,

in fact,

if you give me

the New Testament,

I'll roll up

every page

and make cigarettes.

So Camberini

said to this guy,

well,

let's do a deal.

I'll give you

the New Testament

if you promise

to read every page

before you smoke it.

And so

that's what happened.

Well,

some years later,

15 years later,

this man

who was rolling

the cigarettes

actually had become

a believer,

and he was speaking,

giving his testimony,

and Camberini

came into the conference.

And so the speaker

said,

well,

that man

gave me

a New Testament

15 years ago.

And he said,

I smoked Matthew,

and then I smoked Mark,

and then I smoked Luke.

But when I came

to John 3.16,

my life completely changed.

We read it

in the Breaking the Bread

service

just early

before this service.

God so loved

the world

that he gave

his only son

that whoever

believes in him

will not perish

but have eternal life.

he encountered

Jesus

through reading

those pages.

And that,

of course,

is what's happening

the world over.

And that's what

happens to us

if we read it

with the humility

and the reverence

and open hearts

and expectancy

we meet the Lord.

Well,

the final section,

the final thing

I want to mention

is just to see

what was that impact.

How did it influence

the people

in Nehemiah's day?

So what about

the impact?

And there are three,

again,

three simple things

which I want to underline.

What's important

to remember,

of course,

is that

the scriptures

themselves

are given

not just to inform

or to instruct,

although they include

that element,

but as we've said,

they are to change us.

It's so important

to see that the Bible

is powerful

and dynamic

to change our lives.

I love the illustration

which Isaiah gave,

which you might remember.

he was talking

about the water cycle.

I used to be

a geography teacher

so it appeals to me.

The rain falls,

waters the earth,

it germinates the seeds,

the harvest begins to grow

and then the water

evaporates back up.

That's the water cycle

that Isaiah

was telling people about

in Isaiah 55.

And then this is what

Isaiah adds

after that illustration.

It's on the screen.

So is my word

that goes forth

from my mouth.

It will not return

to me empty

but will accomplish

what I desire

and achieve the purpose

for which I sent it.

God will fulfill

his purpose

through the word

which he gives.

It's authoritative

and powerful

as we said

a moment ago.

And certainly

in Jerusalem

there were several

responses

to God's word

being read

over those hours.

And perhaps

you identify

with these as well.

First of all

they were celebrating

God's grace.

Verse 9 shows

their first response.

For all the people

had been weeping

as they listened

to the words

of the law.

In other words

they realized

as they heard

God's word

that they'd failed

that they'd sinned

they'd disobeyed God.

But Ezra and Nehemiah

moved pretty quickly

to set that failure

within the context

of God's good purposes

for his people.

So verses 9 and 10

This day is holy

to the Lord your God.

Do not mourn

or weep.

Go and enjoy

choice food

and sweet drinks

and send some

to those

who have nothing prepared.

This day is holy

to our Lord.

Do not grieve

for the joy

of the Lord

is your strength.

So they were saying

the first response

to God's word

should be

joyfully

to accept

everything

which God

has done

for them.

It was a special day

a day

to recall

God's grace

towards them

and so the people

went to celebrate

and they went

to eat and drink

with great joy

is how this little

section ends

in verse 12.

And I think

that's a lovely way

to approach

the Bible.

if you're not

motivated to read

Scripture

day by day

then it's worth

remembering

God has good

purposes for us.

He has plans

for us

and they are

to completely

change our lives

and make us

who we really

were made to be

and therefore

all of his actions

towards us

are for our

well-being.

So coming

to Scripture

celebrating

God's goodness

and God's grace

is a very important

response

when we open

the pages

of the Bible.

Then secondly

we come to another

confessing

their sin.

We can understand

this because

their understanding

of what God

had said to them

did lead to confession.

We haven't time

to look at it

but if you have

a moment later today

just to look

into chapter 9

Nehemiah chapter 9

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

you discover

that there is

a long confession

of faith.

It's beautifully written

there's a statement

about God's goodness

then there's a statement

about the people's

behavior

their failure

their sinfulness

and then there's

a statement

about God's mercy

and grace

and that little cycle

is running all the way

through chapter 9

and it reminds us

of the way in which

Paul does the same

in the New Testament

where he's talking

about the gospel.

He does explain

our sinfulness

he does explain

the consequences

of God's judgment

but then he says

this is from

chapter 3

verse 24

but we are justified

freely by his grace

through the redemption

that came by Christ Jesus.

So just as God's people

confessed their sins

and remembered God's grace

and mercy

we must do exactly

the same

and God's word

helps us to do that

not only to understand

our own sinfulness

but it's the mirror

to our hearts

but also

then

to understand

God's grace

and forgiveness

he sets us free

from those things

of the past

just as the people

in Nehemiah's day

experienced that

nothing should hold us back

despite those failures

God

is the one

who's faithful

we can count

on his grace

all of that comes

from hearing God's word

and then the third

and the final

thing to mention

is

very interesting

it's a commitment

to obey

again if you have time

to read chapter 8

9 and 10

that's the flow

of what's written

in Nehemiah's memoirs

celebration

confession

and then commitment

so if we've experienced

God's forgiveness

we've experienced

his restoring grace

then we'll want to commit

our lives

to live for him

and so Nehemiah

in chapters 8 to 10

moves

from that

confession

and celebration

to a commitment

to obey God's word

it's an agreement

that all the people

made there

in chapter 10

they said

we will obey

carefully

all the commands

regulations

and decrees

of the Lord

our God

and that's

the significance

of this story

this movement

from hearing

God's word

celebrating

God's goodness

knowing God's grace

and then

obeying

God's laws

that is what God

is looking for

in our lives

as well

it is truth

in action

in fact

you might say

well I find it

very difficult

to understand

the Bible

at times

but I always remember

Michael Wilcott

who wrote

a couple of commentaries

on the New Testament

and he had a lovely phrase

and here it is

on screen

our understanding

of God's word

has to do

with our obedience

not our brains

as we obey

what God calls us

to do

so we truly

begin to understand

God's purpose

for us

and for our families

our church

our society

for the world

at large

understanding

comes

truly from

obeying

God's word

we're not called

simply

to hear the truth

but to do it

in fact

authentic Christians

I think

are those

who speak

this message

but whose lives

embody

the message

and I have a good friend

I finish with this

and he sometimes

uses this illustration

as we look

at God's word

and he said

well

I've been looking

at you in Edinburgh

and you're reading

the Bible

like this

but you should

read the Bible

the Chinese way

which is like this

we read it

and as we do

so we're saying

Lord

I'm willing

to obey

I hear what

you're saying

I'm willing

to change

I'm going

to obey

your word

so

I hope in these

few moments

looking at this

remarkable story

and as you

go through

this fantastic

Psalm 119

we'll learn

from the people

of Jerusalem

and the Old Testament

believers

who listen

to Psalm 119

eager to respond

to this

dynamic power

of God's word

and to obey

everything

which the Lord

says to us

thank you very much

for listening

patiently through that

let's pray together

dear father

we thank you

for the wonderful gift

that you have given us

in your word

especially for the way

in which we have it

in our own language

we have it in so many

different formats

it's accessible

to all of us

24 hours a day

and so we ask

you'll forgive us

for those times

when we've neglected

to take it seriously

we fail to see

that this is

the dynamic word

through which

you're able

to change

our lives

and our families

and even our society

so we thank you

for the lovely story

of your people

in the Old Testament

who were eager

to hear that word

ready to put up

with all kinds

of inconvenience

to ensure

that they truly

understood

and then they were

willing to obey

we pray that here

at Brunsfield

as we go through

Psalm 119

as we personally

read your word

day by day

you will transform us

by the Holy Spirit

as we understand

your word

more fully

we pray too

that you'll help us

to make it accessible

to everyone

we pray for all the

families here

at BEC

we know it's a

challenge

to introduce

your word

to children

and teenagers

we pray that our

families will take

seriously the living

word of God

which will shape

the lives

of their families

we pray too

for those

in our neighbourhood

who need to hear

the good news

of the gospel

need to hear your word

please bless every effort

that we make here

to open up the good news

of the gospel

and by your spirit

please win people

for the Lord Jesus

we pray for Wycliffe

who we've just mentioned

and many other agencies

around the world

who are working hard

to make this word

of God

accessible to people

of all languages

we pray you'll bless

their efforts

and continue to win

people for the Lord Jesus

through all that

they're doing

we pray for Scripture

Union in Scotland

for those who are

working hard

not only to produce

materials

but also to help

in schools

and in other settings

so that the word

of the Lord

will speed on

and triumph

we ask dear Father

that your word

will enter hearts

and minds

even today

and change us

and change Scotland

and change the world

for the glory

of the Lord Jesus Christ

in whose name we pray

Amen

Thank you.